Ashen World
by Shion-Ai Misaki
Summary: "This world is dying. We need to save the roots or the gear will stop turning." As Ibuki Shinonome wanders around the vast lands of the deserted world, he'll soon come to understand the reasons for his journey. Will he and the people he'll meet along the way be able to save the world from dying and return its colour to it? A story that asks "What if Allen and co. lost to The Earl?"
1. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Ashen World

Chapter One – Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

This world is dying.

Imagine a world with no sun. Imagine, what it would be like to live in such a world, where the sun hasn't been shining for several centuries. A world in which the sky is always filled with clouds that don't let a single ray of sunlight through. Every day is grey, flora and fauna are nearly extinct and every place looks like a vast and endless grey desert. The soil is dry and neither rain nor storm is able to humid it for longer than a few hours. The blanket of clouds act like a glasshouse, letting heat in, but not out; like an eternal nuclear winter.

But this ashen world wasn't always like this. Centuries ago it looked just like you know it. There were forests, lakes, rivers, animals were living everywhere; the world itself was living. But in that living world there was one person that wished to change it, wished to kill that world. And that one person was 'The Millennium Earl'. The Earl created weapons to mercilessly kill every human of the world. Weapons called 'Akuma' made of human souls were used to rid the world of every living being. But to The Earl's disliking there was an organization called 'The Black Order' that made it their duty to fight The Earl and save the world. Their conflict continued for several decades, but in the end the Earl and his lackeys should remain victorious and The Black Order, humanity's last hope, was utterly crushed in their final offensive against The Earl. He continued killing people all over the world and simultaneously turning them into Akuma to quicken the world's destruction. Even now Akuma still continue to hunt down the remaining human villages, trying to eradicate every single human being.

As it happens, this story starts off in a small nomadic village in the middle of nowhere. States were a thing of the past, countries didn't exist anymore. It was all one huge land of nothingness that slowly started falling apart. The ground was literally falling apart, the world was crumbling. More and more bottomless seeming canyons opened and no one knew the cause of it. In that small nomadic village a new hole in the ground had opened one day and Akuma coming out of it started shooting at the people living in the village. Everyone had fallen victim to the Akuma, except one single family that somehow managed to escape and was now running for their lives.

"Quick, Anaïs. There's no time to waste, we have to run!" the father said as he pulled his daughter by the hand.

"We have to make it to the next village, they say there is a small underground dome, maybe there's still space left for us!" the mother running with a child in her arms yelled, her eyes were full of tears. Underground domes were the last defensive line humanity had come up with against Akuma attacks. An underground dome is as the name suggests a dome which is built underground. It's made of a special material, harder than diamond and more resistant than anything ever created. And strangely enough, Akuma attacks couldn't seem to harm them. But with the danger of the world crumbling, they weren't the best places to spend one's life, but probably better than becoming an Akuma.

"Dear, you need to run faster. It's coming after us!" the father yelled desperately, increasing his running speed.

"I… I can't. I can't run faster, I'm… I'm tired." the mother answered whiningly.

"D-daddy, my feet hurt." the little girl was crying.

"Anaïs, you have to be strong now. We _have_ to run, we have no other choice!"

"B-but, I… I j-just wanna…" the girl sobbed and cried even more.

"Dear, I-" but before the father could continue, he suddenly stopped running and fell down. Because he was holding his daughter by the hand she was pulled to the ground as well. The mother stopped running and turned back to see what happened. Just as she wanted to ask her husband, her eyes widened in despair and she started screaming in fear. Her husband was lying on the ground, blood spilling from where his head was supposed to be, but he was shot.

"cAughT yOU!" a shrieking voice said. It was an Akuma that had caught up to the escaping family.

"D-daddy?" the girl stood up.

"Quick, Anaïs. W-we… have to run!" the mother couldn't stop crying over the loss of her husband, but she knew she had no other choice than continue running. Even though the chances of surviving weren't high, they were at least slightly higher than if they'd just remain there and waited to be killed. She grabbed her daughter by the arm and resumed running.

"NOt so fASt, I wiLL CATch you anywaY!" the Akuma said.

"Please, please! Leave us alone! P-please!" the mother was sobbing, she was desperate. But the Akuma only grinned and shot once again. It pierced right through the mother's heart, taking the life of the child she was carrying as well. They both fell to the ground, and only the little girl remained alive. She was standing in front of the Akuma, crying, screaming, waiting for her life to end. The Akuma came closer until standing right in front of her. It was enjoying the girl's fear, it liked hearing people's screams of despair and lost hope. It grinned eerily one last time before it bowed down to her and was ready to shoot.

"GooD NighT, LittLe GiR-" a split second before the Akuma pulled the trigger, someone else had already pulled another trigger and hit the Akuma's head. The Akuma fell to the ground next to the scared girl and was instantly dead.

"Last one down." a young man that was looking through the visor of his sniper rifle said. He had positioned himself some hundreds of meters away from the village and happened to be looking at the village. He had intended to save as many people as possible, but while he was busy shooting down the other Akuma in the village, one of them escaped and hunted down the family that was trying to flee. And in the end he was only able to save one little girl. He was still looking through the visor and saw how the girl was kneeling next to her dead mother, crying and not knowing what to do. He sighed, stood up, put his sniper rifle behind his back and started walking towards the girl's position.

"Guess I gotta take care of her now, what a pain…" he said to himself. When he reached the girl's side he took off his goggles, put down his headphones and crouched down to be on the same eye level as the girl.

"Yo." he said. The girl continued crying, but turned around to see who was standing next to her.

"So, uhh… sorry I couldn't save your mom… uhm… ah, crap. I'm no good with brats." he scratched the back of his head, trying to think of a way of how to deal with the little girl.

"I, uhh… oh fuck it." he stood up again, stretched out an arm and looked at the girl.

"I'm gonna go to the next village, if you wanna come, then hurry." he said. The girl seemed to understand her current situation, and while she knew she shouldn't listen to strangers, she also knew that her family wouldn't be able to accompany her anymore. So the girl slowly stood up, looked at her mother's corpse one last time, turned around and took the young man's hand. While doing all that, she didn't stop crying for even one second, and she would continue crying for a while. And so the young man and the little girl started walking hand in hand.

But because he was annoyed by the girl's sobs and cries, he quickly put on his headphones again. After a while of walking without saying anything, the girl seemed to finally have calmed down a little bit and pulled at his sleeve. He looked down to her and noticed that she wasn't crying anymore. He put down his headphones and started talking.

"Yo, run out of tears?" he asked.

"…" the girl didn't answer him.

"You've got a name?" he continued.

"…Anaïs. …y-you?" she said.

"Me? Why should I tell you?"

"…" Anaïs wanted to know his name too.

"Shinonome. Ibuki Shinonome." he said as he looked skywards.

"Sh… Shino…me?"

"Ibuki's fine."

"…Ibuki." she repeated his name.

Those few lines were the only things they exchanged on their way to the village. When they arrived there, the young man called Ibuki explained to the people what had happened to the other village and asked if they could take care of Anaïs. An elderly couple decided to take her in and wanted to thank him for at least saving one person from the Akuma's attack, so they invited him to at least stay the night.

"You can take a shower if you want too, you must be very tired." the elderly woman said.

"I, uhm… no, it's…" Ibuki wanted to refuse, but the woman's eyes were filled with honesty, he wanted to accept her invitation.

Since he had been wandering around aimlessly for quite some time, he didn't have spare clothes or anything to change into, so taking a bath once in a while was a rare opportunity. He possessed only what he was wearing on him. A pair of red jeans, knee-high black leather boots, a shirt, a short grey coat and a pair of black leather gloves. He used the black bandana he was wearing around his waist and the goggles on his head as a protection against sand storms. If there was anything else he needed to carry around he knotted his quite big bandana into a bag. The most valuable things he owned were his headphones filled with his favourite music, he'd have them on almost all the time, and his two guns. A sniper rifle for super long distance shooting and a normal one.

After he had taken a short bath, he joined the elderly couple and Anaïs for dinner. The little girl didn't say a word during the entire time. After finishing eating, they all went to bed. While Anaïs was given the small guest room as her new room, Ibuki was lying on a blanket on the floor. He didn't intend on spending the night, he was just waiting for everyone to fall asleep and then leave in the middle of the night. He silently left the small house and started walking out of the village.

"Those people are better off if they don't get involved with me for a long time." he whispered to himself. While walking away, he thought about the little girl for a while, but quickly forgot about her and put on his headphones.

And just like that Ibuki Shinonome continued on his way. He didn't know where he was headed to, he didn't have any goal. Since he knew that the world was dying and probably wouldn't last that much longer, he also didn't care about where he was going. He was a bit of a pessimist. He was just walking around in the unending desert, and if by chance he met people on his way and could do anything to help them out a bit, then he'd try to; because he had nothing else to do anyway, in this ashen world of ours.


	2. Aimlessly

Ashen World

Chapter Two – Aimlessly

As hot the world was during the day, just as freezing cold it was during the night. But nonetheless Ibuki preferred to walk during night time. Less heat meant less sweat. Taking breaks to get your energy back, he thought of that as a pain and therefore tried avoiding walking during the day as much as possible. Everything that needed too much energy was a pain to him. He wasn't lazy, he just didn't want to mindlessly waste energy, he knew it was a precious resource.

But travelling at night harboured its own, several disadvantages. For instance, some of the still remaining animals in the world were coincidentally the deadliest animals and they preferably liked crawling around and hunting for prey in the depths of the night. Poisonous insects and deadly spiders were the predators of the night, and although small in number and size, they shouldn't be taken lightly. Another dangerous trap during the night were bottomless holes. Because the world was crumbling, suddenly appearing holes, rifts and canyons weren't a rarity, but the danger of falling into one at night was higher than during the day; after all, it was pitch black dark. Evading them with basically blind eyes wasn't easy at all.

Ibuki Shinonome knew of all those dangers, but he still preferred to travel at night. 'The world's ending soon, we're all gonna die anyway.' he always told himself. Therefore he didn't care if he'd die sooner, but until the very moment of his death, he wanted to save as much energy as possible. You might ask yourself why he'd go to all that trouble, if he expected to die anyway. Some people may call him a pessimist, but according to him he's just being realistic, considering the current world. But understanding Ibuki's thought process wasn't simple, he was a rather special individual. He liked being alone, that way he didn't have to talk to anyone. Talking used up too much energy and therefore was a pain. He didn't laugh either; for the same reasons. He was happiest when listening to his music, being alone and not having to deal with anything or anyone. But he knew that sometimes he couldn't avoid human contact, just like what happened some hours ago. Luckily for him, such occasions were seldom and he forgot about them quickly.

He continued walking around aimlessly. It may have looked like he had a goal in mind, but he just walked to wherever his feet would take him. He had no clue about how many days, weeks or months had passed since his journey started, and he also didn't have a clue about when it would find its end. Would it take some more weeks? Or months? Or even years? How long it might take him, he continued walking alone. But just because he was alone didn't mean he felt lonely.

As he continued on his path, dawn was drawing near.

"Ugh, already day again." he mumbled to himself. He decided to look for some rocks or a dead tree to sit down for a while. And to not waste time, he wanted to clean and inspect his guns; one of the very few activities he did regularly. He found a big tree and sat down behind of it, keeping himself in the shadow of the tree and leaning against the trunk. He took his sniper rifle from the back and started cleaning it with his bandana. One of the reasons for which he _had_ to visit human villages was to buy ammunition for his guns; that was the only thing he couldn't find in the wild. The other reason being fresh water, something scarce in the wild. As far as food was concerned, he'd just hunt it down himself with his guns.

Ibuki was convinced that he was the guy with the best aim in the world and could hit anything from hundreds of meters of distance. When he finished cleaning his guns, he heard an eagle circling around in the sky and decided it would be his meal. He took his sniper rifle, positioned himself correctly and aimed for the bird.

"Aim, lock and…" he said to himself and pulled the trigger.

"…hit." he put down his gun and started walking towards where the eagle fell. He retrieved his prey, walked back to the tree and started making a fire nearby. After roasting it for some time he started eating, noticing that his water bottle was almost empty.

"Crap." he had no other choice than to look for a village, so he put out the fire, placed his sniper rifle back on his back and started walking again.

It was windy and sand was swirling around the air, making it harder to move forward than it already was. Ibuki put on the goggles to avoid getting sand into his eyes, he needed to look for a village. Every now and then he took his sniper rifle and looked for a village using the visor of the gun. After what he believed to be roughly an hour, he finally encountered a village through the visor. He adjusted his walking direction and headed towards the village. The sooner he'd get there, the faster he could leave again.

When the village got into his field of vision he noticed something strange about it. Smoke seemed to be coming from it and mixing with the clouds above. Ibuki knew immediately what that meant.

"Crap, this'll be a pain." he sighed deeply and started running towards where the smoke was coming from. The blowing wind would probably help increase the fire, and if Akuma should show up following the trail of smoke, then it could end in complete mayhem. After all, despite having that solitary personality and almost everything being a pain to him, Ibuki was a kind person that couldn't ignore people who sought help. But he didn't know yet where he was about to venture into.


	3. Better well done than well said

Ashen World

Chapter Three – Better well done than well said

Ibuki didn't slow down for a second, he kept on running towards the village. Dealing with a fire would be less of a pain than dealing with Akuma. Whenever something happened, he would go through different simulations in his head. He would come up with several dozens of simulations and outcomes, he would have a solution ready for nearly everything that could happen and he always chose the most 'painless' solution at first and then gradually putting the other ones in order by probability of success and amount of pain. Ibuki was a strategist, a forecaster you could say.

"Lemme make it in time." he said to himself as he entered the village. People were running around and screaming, it was indeed burning.

"The fire! The fire is growing!" people screamed.

"You, where's the elder of the village?!" Ibuki grabbed a man running past him by the arm and asked in a hurry.

"Who are you?!" the man asked.

"Doesn't matter right now, answer me. I can help."

"In the middle of the village, next to the well."

"And in which fucking direction is that?!" Ibuki started screaming, he had no time to waste and wanted to know where he had to go to solve the problem.

"Th-that way!" the man stretched out his arm. Ibuki let go of him and started running to where the man was pointing. He quickly reached something that looked like a well and saw another man standing next to it.

"You, are you the elder? I can help you extinguish the fire, tell your people to help me out." Ibuki said.

"I do not know you, how can I trust the words of a stranger?" the man answered.

"Listen, gramps. You have to choices, either listen to what I say and save this village from the fire or burn down with all the villagers."

"But how do I know you speak the truth?"

"I always keep my promises!" he yelled at the man. The elderly man looked at Ibuki's eyes. The ruby red eyes were burning, emitting the sense that Ibuki was indeed speaking the truth.

"Very well, I shall let everyone know what you have in mind."

"Cool. Then tell them to throw rocks at the fire, to throw them around of it so it doesn't expand any further. Also tell them to water blankets and the like to suffocate the fire with it, take away the oxygen from the flames and they'll go out." Ibuki explained and ran away again, trying to find other people and convince them of doing what he said. After some time, the fighting against the fire had come to an end, the fire had been extinguished completely. Slowly the villagers calmed down and started collecting the things that escaped being destructed by the fire. The elder in company of two other men approached Ibuki after everything had calmed down again.

"Thank you, traveller. I am sure this problem would have taken more time to be solved if you had not come to our aid." the elder bowed down to Ibuki. The two men accompanying him copied his action.

"Don't worry, didn't do it for you guys. If this fire had attracted Akuma it would've been more of a pain to deal with them."

"I see. Still, is there nothing we can do to thank you?"

"Well, I need some fresh water, if I could just fill my bottle with your we-"

"Understood, you will be given something to eat and drink for tonight, please be our guest."

"Thanks, I-wait, what? No, I just…"

"It is the least we can do, no need to hold back."

"No way I'm holding back, I just don't wanna deal with you people."

"Please, eat with us."

"Ugh, what a pain. Fine." Ibuki rolled his eyes, he didn't want to eat with the people of the village, but he thought to himself that he could at least wait in a shadowy place until the sun set before he continued his journey.

One of Ibuki's qualities was indeed that he always kept his promises. He always represented the opinion, that if you say something you have to stick to it until the end. He despised empty and false promises along with people who uttered them.

"So, why did the fire start, someone screwed up while cooking?" Ibuki had been lead to the elder's house and sat down on the floor. Ibuki certainly wasn't an expert in human interpersonal communication, it was a result of avoiding human contact as much as possible. He thought little of small talk and the like, a waste of time. If there was something you wanted to know you should just straight ask. He didn't bother thinking about how others would react to the things he said. He didn't talk much, but when he did he said exactly what he thought.

"No. Frankly, I do not know. But it was not the first fire that started in this village." the elder explained.

"And you're _still_ alive? Impressive."

"We do not know why this started, but we can do nothing against it."

"So how come you were almost kicking the bucket this time when I got here?"

"Normally, the head of our clan would have been the one to guide us. He did so with the previous incidents, but as of lately he has gone missing."

"Sounds like some crappy head to me if he has gone missing that easily."

"In any case, all the men I have sent to look for him have never come back either."

"You sure are a bunch of pathetic people, aren't you?"

"I beg of you, traveller. I know you have already saved us once, but would it be possible to ask you a favour?" the elder and the other two men kneeled and bowed down in front of Ibuki.

"Uhh…"

"Would you help us look for the head of our clan?"

"…" Ibuki didn't answer at first. He didn't really care about those people, but if someone bowed down in front of him and sought his help, he couldn't refuse that easily.

"Uhh, I dunno. What do I get if I save him?"

"Everything you wish for."

"Deal." Ibuki was a greedy man. If there was the slightest chance of obtaining something rare and valuable, he'd take almost any risks. If it meant he could sell it to a merchant and buy things to upgrade his guns, he'd do almost every job.

"We do not know how to thank you enough for this." the elder looked up again.

"Wait, why did your second-rate head went missing in the first place?" Ibuki still didn't know what he had to do.

"As it seems, rumours in our village spread that bandits were stealing from us and were hiding in a nearby cave. One day our head decided to take a look at the cave, since that day he has not come back yet."

"You know he could've just fucked up and died, right?"

"We are aware of that possibility. That is why we sent out men to look for him. But since no one came back so far, we cannot be certain that is the case."

"Uh-huh…"

"So we would like you to inspect the cave and hopefully come back alive to report to us."

"If someone leads me there I can go as soon as the sun sets."

"You intend to go today already?"

"The sooner I'm done with this, the faster I can continue on my way."

"Very well, I shall inform someone of it and have him accompany you."

"Cool, wake me up at sunset." Ibuki said as he lied down on the floor, put on his headphones and closed his eyes. He thought it'd be best to get some rest before going to the cave. While he was falling asleep he thought to himself that he shouldn't have come to the village after all.

After a few hours of sleep Ibuki was woken up by the person who'd be leading him to the cave. After some quick preparations like readying two lanterns they were ready to leave.

"Sir, this way." Ibuki's guide said and started walking. Ibuki followed him without saying anything. After a short march they reached the cave.

"…this is it?" Ibuki asked as he took a peek into the cave.

"Yes."

"Eeww, what the fuck is that stuff dropping from the top?!" Ibuki pointed upwards with his lantern.

"The caves around here are known for their green, sticky and poisonous slime. Please make sure not to touch it." the guide explained to Ibuki.

"Are you kidding me… Say, why again did you think exploring this deadly cave was a good idea?"

"Our head thought it necessary to arrest the bandits, if there really were some."

"Oh, _that_ guy." Ibuki's impression of the village's head wasn't a good one. He thought of him as a person he didn't want to get involved with and someone he didn't want to be around for too long.

"Let us go in." the guide entered the cave while making sure to not touch any of the slime.

"Ugh, this can't be happening right now…" Ibuki followed him while complaining. They were advancing as fast as possible, always looking out for the slime and avoiding contact with it.

"Thank you again for helping us." he whispered to Ibuki.

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

"If anyone did something to Master Kanade, then I swear I will destroy them with my own hands and then save him!"

"Whoa there, calm down. And don't promise things you're not sure you can keep. Things are better well done than only well said." Ibuki said.

"Excuse me, I will keep that in mind." the guide calmed down a bit again.

"Soo, he's called Kanade, huh?"

"Yes, Master Kanade Hibikuma. 36th Head of the Mugen Clan."

"Uh-huh…" Ibuki didn't really care.

"We're in here for quite some time already, mayb-"

"Shut your trap." Ibuki suddenly exclaimed.

"Huh?"

"I hear voices." he whispered.

"Boss, what do we do with this guy? It's been a few days already and no one came to save him yet, maybe he's worthless." a voice said.

"Damn, I thought he'd be someone important." another voice said.

"Could they…" the guide knew who they were talking about.

"Yeah, probably your little Kanade." Ibuki said silently as he took his gun and loaded it.

"Follow me silently." Ibuki said as he stepped forward with his gun, trying to locate the voices he was hearing.

"Okay."

"It'll probably be best if we take care of those bandits first and then… but what if they outnumber us by far? Maybe we could…" Ibuki was talking to himself while going through different scenarios in his head.

"What?"

"Shut it, I'm thinking."

After a while Ibuki suddenly stopped walking, they had reached the place the voices were coming from. They hid behind a corner and Ibuki quickly looked past the corner for a split second.

"There are three guys. Two standing and one tied together sitting on the ground. The tied guy is wearing black jeans, dark blue vest, light blue coat, tie and there are two swords lying in front of him. A bag's been put on his head, so I can't say how he looks. But does that sound like your master?" Ibuki quickly explained to his guide.

"Y-yes, that sounds like Master Kanade. How did you memorize all that in such a short amount of time?"

"Oh I noticed more, I just told you the important things." Ibuki was proud of his good eyes and photographic memory, he could memorize dozens of things by just looking at them for a split second.

"W-we gotta rescue him, quic-" just as he was about to stand up and rush to his master's help, Ibuki grabbed him by his shoulder and stopped him.

"Fucking idiot, do you want to get yourself killed? You promised to save him, right? Well then don't go and die, fool."

"I… I'm sorry, y-you're right. Thanks."

"I have a plan. Gimme that rock over there." Ibuki pointed to his right.

"This one?" he gave a rock to Ibuki.

"Yeah. The two guys are standing with their backs to us, facing the other side. I'll throw this rock at one of the guys' head, he'll fall, hopefully get unconscious, the other one will be distracted and then we'll attack him at once and tie both of their hands. Then we'll save your master and run for it."

"R-run? And the bandits?!"

"If they decide to come to the village again we'll deal with them then."

"What?!"

"Do you have a plan that's less of a pain?"

"I don't."

"Then shut up and do as I say."

"Okay."

Ibuki leaned forward with the rock in his right hand. He wound up slowly and positioned himself.

"Aim, lock…" Ibuki threw the stone as strong as he could.

"…and hit." the bandit standing on the right fell down instantly. The other one standing next to him startled, looked around and then crouched down to see what had happened to his comrade.

"Now!" Ibuki yelled. The bandit startled again and just as he was about to take his gun and shoot, Ibuki swung his leg and kicked the bandit's belly. He put his arms around his belly and fell unconscious.

"Ow, my foot, that's why I don't like martial arts..." Ibuki didn't expect the belly to be that resistant.

"Master Kanade, are you hurt anywhere?" he was already untying his master. Ibuki approached the tied person, bowed down and stopped in front of the master's head.

"Well then, let's see how he's doing…" Ibuki said as he grabbed the bag on Kanade's head and pulled it off.


	4. The 36th Head of the Mugen Clan

Ashen World

Chapter Four – The 36th Head of the Mugen Clan

Crystal clear blue eyes were looking right into Ibuki's eyes. Kanade was gagged and couldn't say anything to the person that had just saved him.

"He's gagged, we need to help him." the guide said.

"I can see that, thanks. Let's get rid of the gag." Ibuki answered and ripped off the gag from Kanade's mouth.

"Ouch! Who do you think you are?! Where are the guys that caught me, I am going to slice my swords through their guts so that they will bleed unti-" Kanade said angrily but Ibuki quickly put on the gag again.

"I liked him better mute." he looked at the guide.

"Done." the guide had finally untied Kanade. He stood up at once and ripped off the gag one more time.

"Where are they?!" Kanade grabbed his swords and was ready to draw them.

"Master Kanade, we should hurry and run. We need to go back to the village and protect it."

"Not before I soak my swords in those bandits' blood."

"Yo, bloody head of the whatever clan. Your servant's right, village needs protection. If they come after us you can still kill them, right?" Ibuki said.

"And who might _you_ be?" Kanade approached Ibuki until they were standing face to face.

"Private space." Ibuki said as he pushed Kanade with his hand.

"Ibuki." he said afterwards.

"Well then, Ibuki, may I ask what you are doing here?"

"Just saving your ass from the bandits, let's go." Ibuki turned around and started walking to where they came from.

"I-ibuki. Master Kanade. Uhm…" the guide seemed worried and didn't know what to do.

"Hmph, let us go then." Kanade said as he followed Ibuki. The guide sighed and followed the others too as they got the cave's entrance. At the same time, the bandit who got a stone thrown at his head was slowly waking up. When he came to and realized he was lying on the floor he looked around and finally saw that his comrade was unconscious. He stood up hastily and tried waking him up by slapping his face.

"Hey!" he slapped him once.

"Are you okay?" he slapped him twice.

"Wake up!" he slapped him another time. After the fifth slap he finally seemed to be opening his eyes.

"Oww, my belly hurts, what happ-" but before he could end his sentence he got slapped one more time.

"S-sorry, I was getting used to it."

"Idiot! Let go of me!"

"Y-yes, sorry."

"Hey! Where is the punk?! He isn't here, did he escape?!"

"I don't know, when I woke up we were both lying on the floor. And my head hurts…" they both stood up and were looking at the spot where they had held their prisoner captive.

"Shit, this isn't good. We need to go and catch him again."

"B-but, now they'll be more cautious than before."

"We don't have any choice, what if _he_ finds out?!"

"What if I find out _what_?" a voice from behind of them suddenly asked.

"B-b-b-boss! Y-you're already b-back?" the bandits turned around in fear.

"Yes, so. What happened?" their boss asked.

"N-nothing important." one of the bandits said.

"Well your mind is telling me something different. The prisoner escaped, right?"

"B-boss, you said you wouldn't read our minds."

"I do what I want, you have no right to talk back to me. Lowly human, you weren't even able to guard one single person. Useless." the bandits' boss turned around and started walking.

"B-boss, where are we going?"

"I shall deal with The Descendant and that puny village myself. You two come along."

"Y-yes boss!" the two of them said simultaneously.

"Let's burn some things down…" he grinned mischievously.

* * *

"Master Kanade, you are safe. Oh, thank the gods." the elder bowed down when Kanade, Ibuki and the guide arrived in the village.

"I am back, I apologise for having worried you, grandfather." Kanade said.

"Wh-what?" Ibuki was surprised.

"It is true, Master Kanade is my grandson. I am the former Head of the Mugen Clan, Yuu Hibikuma."

"Whoa."

"Grandfather, who is this person?" Kanade asked.

"Master Kanade, this person is our guest. He saved our village today after another fire broke out. And even after that he volunteered to go rescue you." Elder Yuu explained.

"Is that true?" Kanade looked at Ibuki.

"Well I wouldn't say 'volunteered', but…" Ibuki tried to explain his situation.

"Thank you very much, Ibuki…?" Kanade wanted to know his full name.

"Shinonome. Ibuki Shinonome."

"You have my thanks, Ibuki Shinonome. I apologize if I have said something to anger you." he put his right arm in front of him and his left arm behind of him. That was the official way to thank someone in the Mugen Clan; a Clan with a long history.

"Uh, yeah… no big deal." Ibuki seemed a bit embarrassed.

"Please be our guest for the day, the sun is rising already." Kanade said.

"What?! Oh crap… I guess I'll stay until nightfall then."

"Very well." Elder Yuu said.

"So you're the current head, huh?" Ibuki asked.

"I am, the 36th Head of the Mugen Clan." Kanade answered.

"What is this 'mugen' anyway?"

"Mugen was the name of the weapon of a strong warrior centuries ago. It is written in an ancient text that was passed on for centuries in this village. We ourselves do not know who that warrior was or what he did, but we take pride in him and continue the tradition of upholding this clan, protecting the village from any outside danger."

"So you named yourselves after some random guy's weapon without even knowing his name?"

"…yes." Kanade's face turned slightly red, realizing himself that the story sounded somewhat poor, not knowing the warrior's name.

"B-but it is a fact that he existed!"

"Yeah yeah."

"A-anyway… you are a traveller, Ibuki?"

"Hm? Ah, yeah." Ibuki was about to put on his headphones when Kanade started asking him things.

"Are you travelling alone? Where are you going?"

"Yeah, and I don't know. Somewhere, I guess."

"You do not know?"

"I don't even know why I started travelling in the first place."

"How can you not know that?"

"I dunno, maybe it's just too long ago."

"I see."

"Yeah…"

A silence broke out between of them and nobody tried to say anything. The two of them were just sitting and staring at each other.

"Something on my face?" Ibuki asked after a while.

"The band aid."

"Ah, that. No big deal."

"I see."

"Yeah…" both became silent again. Kanade was still looking at Ibuki and Ibuki didn't know how to react, he was getting nervous.

"I brought something to eat." Elder Yuu came in through the door.

"Oh thank god…" Ibuki exhaled as if he had been holding his breath.

"Is something the matter?" Kanade asked.

"N-no." Ibuki was relieved that he wasn't being stared at anymore.

Just as he was about to grab something to eat, a loud explosion could be heard. Kanade and Ibuki instinctively jumped up. Kanade drew one of his katana and Ibuki loaded his gun.

"What was that?" Ibuki asked.

"An explosion." Kanade answered.

"…thanks." Ibuki wanted to ask where the explosion had taken place.

"It is probably something outside, let us hurry." Kanade rushed out of the house.

"You guys have some serious fire issues!" Ibuki followed him. When they got outside, something worse than a fire was attacking the village.

"…Akuma." Kanade said while drawing his other katana.

"Oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me…" Ibuki's worst case scenario had come true.

"Ibuki, I ask of you, one more time, will you protect this village?"

"Yeah."

"You have my gratitude." Kanade bowed to him and in a split second he jumped up, swung his swords, cut the Akuma in half and sheathed his katana again. Everything was done in such a quick way, Ibuki was hardly able to follow him with his eyes.

"Not bad."

"Thank you, Ibu-" Kanade stopped talking as a bullet coming from Ibuki's gun passed by his face, barely not hitting him. Kanade froze for a second, he clearly sensed the bullet as his hair moved a little because of the bullet's pressure. Ibuki had aimed at an Akuma wanting to attack Kanade from behind.

"Not bad." Kanade grinned.

"Thanks, Kanade." Ibuki said and the two of them started running off into different directions.

"It'll be best if I look for some place high and hide there. Then I can target the Akuma with my sniper rifle." Ibuki said to himself as he continued running and was looking for a perfect spot. At the same time, Kanade was already rushing to a group of Akuma and directly dived into battle, quickly drawing his swords, cutting the enemies and just as quickly sheathing them again. Kanade attained mastery in the sword art of 'iaijutsu'. Iaijutsu is a technique in which you quickly attack your opponents and in which the sword is sheathed most of the time. The difficulty lies in learning how to quickly draw and sheath a sword and it requires years of training. After cutting down some more Akuma, Kanade stopped running and glared at two figures standing in front of him.

"You…" he was facing the two bandits who were holding him captive.

"O-oh no, it's h-him. B-boss! Boss, he's here!" one of the bandits said and suddenly and Akuma came flying from a cloud of smoke. Kanade evaded it by jumping back but yet another one came flying from the other direction and managed to hit Kanade. He got thrown to the ground but could stand up quickly again.

"You! Are you the one controlling these Akuma?" he was pointing at the bandits after drawing one katana and cutting through the two Akuma.

"B-Booooss…" the bandits said.

"I will not fall for the same trap twice." Kanade said and looked around to see where the next attack would come from, but nothing appeared. He lowered his swords in confusion and at the same time the ground beneath him cracked up and something was pushing him upwards; an Akuma was attacking from underground. Kanade was caught off-guard and thrown into the air while letting go of his swords.

"Damn it!" he yelled as he was falling back right into the Akuma's opened mouth with no way of defending himself. But just a split second before falling into the living coffin, the Akuma fell down and Kanade landed on top of it. He turned around and jumped towards where his swords were lying and grabbed them.

"What in the world…" he was confused as to what had happened, the Akuma wasn't moving anymore, it was dead. He had no time to think about it for too long, more Akuma were already coming from the smoke. But as soon as they appeared they all fell down to the ground, they were being killed.

"How…" Kanade widened his eyes as it finally sunk in.

"…Ibuki." he remembered that Ibuki was carrying a sniper rifle on his back. He assumed that the one taking care of the Akuma from a distance was Ibuki. When he realized that he grinned mischievously.

"If you are backing me up, I will go all out then!" he exclaimed as he rushed to the bandits, ignoring everything on the way. Akuma kept on appearing behind of him, but Ibuki took care of all of them with perfectly aimed shots.

"Let my Ongen and Rakugen savour your bastards' blood!" he yelled and swung his katana to strike down the two bandits. They closed their eyes in fear and thought their last hour had come, but a man suddenly appeared behind of them and stopped the blades with his bare hands. Kanade snapped out of his rage and jumped backwards, positioning himself with his swords protecting him.

"Wh-what? Impossible." he said.

"Oh my, oh my. No need to be so aggressive and try killing my subordinates. They're only doing their jobs." the mysterious man clad in white said with a smile.

"B-boss! You saved us!" the bandits said.

"No one is able to stop my swords, let alone with bare hands and not even getting a scratch from it. What are you?" Kanade was being cautious.

"Me? I have no reason to tell you lowly human my name."

"What?!"

"Now then, you shall die here and now." the man stepped forward. Kanade noticed that there was something on the man's forehead. The more he looked at it, the more it seemed to be an eye. The man had three eyes.

"Stay back!" Kanade readied himself.

"Oh how funny, you want to fight me?" he started laughing.

"…" Kanade remained silent.

"Know your place, human!"

"…wh-what?! I… I cannot move." Kanade looked at his feet, but nothing was holding him.

"I took the chance to bind your mind so you wouldn't flee. Prepare to die." the man grinned eerily and was about to attack. He swung his arm and aimed for Kanade's neck, but just before hitting he jumped back quickly.

"You really are a pathetic head, Kanade." Ibuki appeared from behind, he was holding his gun and pointing at the mysterious man.

"I-ibuki." Kanade was able to move again and stepped backwards.

"Well, well, well. If your little friend hadn't come you'd be dead by now, dear Descendant." the man continued.

"What do you want?!" Kanade screamed at him.

"Me? Oh I just want the precious root that's right beneath this village, I would like this village gone so I can take the root. And you were in my way. I didn't anticipate _he_ would interfere though." he said with a smile and looked at Ibuki.

"What? What root are you speaking of?!" Kanade continued.

"Doesn't matter right now anymore, I don't feel like fighting anymore. We can just take any other root and ignore this one."

" _We_?"

"I'll let you in on something. The gear's still turning, but who knows for how long?"

"What the fuck are you talking about? Who are you even, talking big like that?!" Ibuki exclaimed.

"My name is Wisely. We shall meet again, Ibuki Shinonome." the man calling himself Wisely grinned and suddenly vanished, taking the two bandits with him.

"What was that all about?" Kanade asked as he sheathed his words, the danger seemed to be gone.

"No idea, Kanade." Ibuki said as he looked skywards.

"No idea…"

* * *

"Oh, you're back already, Wisely?" a young girl said.

"Yes, let's forget about that root." Wisely answered.

"So you screwed up again, huh?" the girl laughed while rolling around on a big armchair.

"I didn't think _he_ would be there too."

"Ohh?"

"Yes, wasn't funny." Wisely sat down on another armchair.

"Wisely, already back?" a strangely looking figure suddenly appeared and asked him.

"Earl? What are you doing here?"

"Me? I just wanted to look after my family, is that prohibited?"

"N-no."

"Eeeeaaarl! Wisely screwed up, haha!" the girl started laughing again.

"Road!" Wisely was angry.

"I told you to call me Reimei, that is my name now." she stared at Wisely.

"Don't worry, Reimei. Everyone makes mistakes. Even _we_ do." the one being called 'earl' said.

"We can take that root whenever we want anyway." Wisely added.

"That's not needed, there are many other roots left and we don't need many more." he said.

"Where are the other Disciples anyway, Earl?" Reimei looked around the room and pointed at the three empty armchairs.

"They are busy, they will come back when the time's right."

"We're short on people, with only five of us so far. The other times it didn't take that long." Wisely added.

"Everything at the proper time, Wisely. We will achieve our goal. This world will soon die." he grinned evilly and his eyes started glowing ominously.

"Yes, Millennium Earl."


	5. Ibuki's troubles

Ashen World

Chapter Five – Ibuki's troubles

"Grandfather, the village should be safe for a while." Kanade said when the two of them returned from facing the mysterious man called Wisely.

"Is that the truth?" Elder Yuu asked.

"Yes, Ibuki and I prevented the worst from happening."

"I must thank you once again, Ibuki. I do not know how we could ever repay you." Elder Yuu bowed down to Ibuki.

"How about you let me go already…" Ibuki whispered almost inaudibly.

"Excuse me?"

"N-nothing."

"I too, must give you my thanks, Ibuki. You have saved my life. How can I repay you?" Kanade bowed down to Ibuki as well.

"Ah, no… it's, okay… Uh, don't worry too much about it." Ibuki said.

"Are you sure, Ibuki?" Kanade stepped closer and looked into Ibuki's eyes.

"Too close." he pushed him back with his hand.

"Master Kanade, I want to discuss something with Ibuki. If it is possible, can I ask of you to leave the two of us alone for a while?" Elder Yuu turned to Kanade.

"As you wish, grandfather. I will be waiting outside and help the villagers." Kanade said and closed the door after he left.

"Uhm…" Ibuki was confused.

"Ibuki, let us sit down." Elder Yuu said.

"S-sure…"

"Here." the elder took a small bag out of a pocket and handed it to Ibuki. Ibuki inspected it and opened it.

"…this is?" he was holding something like a necklace, there was a medal hanging from it.

"This is our clan's seal. It is not much, but it shows that you are a guest of the Mugen Clan and will always be welcome here. As long as you have the seal you will be treated with kindness and you will always have a place to come back to. Thank you very much, once again, for everything." Elder Yuu said, put his hands on the floor in front of him and lowered his head to show his gratitude.

"Ah, p-please. Raise your head. I thank you for giving me something so worthy." Ibuki said, but his mind was already thinking about how much he could get for selling it.

"Would you listen to one final request?" Elder Yuu raised his head again.

"Y-yes?"

"Could you take Master Kanade with you and let him travel with you?"

"H-Huuuh?!" Ibuki's eyes widened. He didn't expect a request like that.

"You see, we are well aware of the world's death drawing nearer. Therefore I would like for Master Kanade to travel the world. I would like for him to see the world, even in the state it is now. There are still many things he does not know, and I am sure he would be safe if he could travel with you, Ibuki. I am not asking this as the former 35th Head of the Mugen Clan; I am asking this as his grandfather."

"I… I mean…"

"Yes?"

"…" Ibuki was thinking about what he could say.

"Ibuki?"

"…I wouldn't mind if he tagged along, but… you know, I… I don't wanna force him, you see. You say, you want him to travel, but what if he doesn't want to? Y-yeah, we shouldn't ignore what _he_ wants. S-so, we can ask him and if he wants, then I will not neglect your wish, Elder Yuu." Ibuki tried to sound as honest as he could. He thought that Kanade would never want to take the burden of travelling with Ibuki. He thought Kanade would want to remain in the village and protect it from future dangers, that's why he told the elder to ask Kanade first. Ibuki was sure that was the best way to continue his journey. Alone.

* * *

"Eeeaaarl, I'm boooored." Reimei said while sitting upside down and eating a lollipop.

"Reimei, why are you bored? Isn't it fun to spend time with me? Am I… boring?" the Earl stopped knitting and asked her with teary eyes.

"You know that's not what I meant, Earl. Wisely and the others are all doing something. Why can't I go too?"

"Reimei, you are very important for me. I don't want you to face any dangers."

"But I can take care of myself!"

"You will have your time to shine as well, don't worry." he said and continued knitting.

"…I should've just accompanied Joyd earlier." Reimei moped.

"Did you say something?"

"I hope that Joyd is doing well. Where was he going again?"

"Joyd? He said he wanted to retrieve another root and talked about a place with another Descendant."

"Another one?!"

"Yes, hmm… How was the village called again? Grand Marian, if I recall correctly." the Earl said.

"Grand Marian, huh…" Reimei said to herself.

* * *

"Yes! Please let me accompany you, Ibuki!" Kanade said when Elder Yuu called him back and told him about his discussion with Ibuki.

"See? I knew he wouldn-wh…what." Ibuki didn't expect that answer.

"I would like to accompany you, Ibuki. That way I will someday be able to repay you for saving my life. Please, let me travel with you." Kanade bowed down to Ibuki and waited for an answer.

"I… uh… shit…" Ibuki whispered.

"Did you say something?" Elder Yuu asked.

"Uh, I said… _y-yay_?"

"So it is okay?"

"…I guess so." Ibuki had no other choice.

"Thank you very much, Ibuki. As of now, please think of me as your servant. I will fulfil your every wish until I am able to repay my debt." Kanade said.

"That's… great! Haha… ha…" Ibuki tried to laugh.

"Are you okay?" Kanade asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm… very… happy."

"Very well, let us prepare some things so you can go anytime. Follow me, Master Kanade." Elder Yuu said to Kanade as he left the room.

"I will be back shortly, Ibuki."

"Y-yeah…" he said and the other two left the room. Ibuki sat down on the floor and looked upwards.

"This is gonna be a pain…" he said and closed his eyes.

As soon as the sun was setting Ibuki and Kanade were ready to leave the village. Kanade was carrying a bag with things he and Ibuki could use during their travel.

"Master Kanade, I wish you a safe travel." Elder Yuu said.

"Thank you, grandfather. I will come back someday, so do not worry." Kanade said.

"Uh, thanks for everything. We'll be going now… so uh… bye." Ibuki said while turning around and started walking away.

"He may not seem a person of many words, but I know you will be alright as long as you stay together. Until another day, my grandson." Elder Yuu said and hugged Kanade.

"Thank you, grandfather. Good bye."

"Kanade! Hurry up." Ibuki exclaimed but didn't stop walking.

"Coming." Kanade said and rushed to Ibuki's side.

Slowly but surely the two of them left Kanade's home village behind and soon they were surrounded by the vast lands again. Out of habit, Ibuki put on his headphones. He quickly realized that Kanade was walking behind of him, but if Kanade wouldn't say anything, he had no intentions of taking off his headphones.

Kanade wasn't stupid. Therefore he soon realized what kind of person Ibuki was. After he first talked to him, he already noticed that Ibuki didn't like being around other people. He also realized that he didn't like talking all that much. Kanade realized a lot of things about Ibuki; and he would use any opportunity to tease Ibuki. After all, Kanade was someone who liked seeing people weep with despair; he was a little sadist. He didn't mean harm in any actions he took, his personality just contained a twisted trait which resulted in a twisted hobby. But he didn't tell anything to Ibuki, of course. Ibuki was bound to learn more about his new comrade sooner or later. And whenever Ibuki turned around to see if Kanade was still there, Kanade just grinned.

After walking around for a while, night had already set, Kanade poked Ibuki's shoulder. Ibuki stopped walking, took off his headphones and turned around. Kanade was holding a flashlight, he wasn't used to walk around in the dark.

"Ibuki, if it is not asking too much… Would it be okay to rest for the night? I will surely come to get accustomed to walking at night, but as of now…"

"So you wanna take a break?"

"If possible, yes."

"Ugh, what a pain. Alright."

"Thank you very much, Ibuki."

"Yeah yeah whatever." Ibuki sat down on the spot.

"I will light a fire then." Kanade said.

"Do what you want." he said as he put on his headphones again. Kanade grinned and started lighting a fire. After some minutes a fire was burning and illuminating their little camp. Ibuki had his eyes closed and was listening to his music when Kanade decided to sit right in front of Ibuki. Ibuki noticed something and when he opened his eyes he screamed in fear.

"Ahhh! Kanade! Why… you startled me. Also you're too close." Ibuki put his hands in between of their faces.

"I apologise, I had a question but did not want to disturb you."

"Well you failed, I feel disturbed right now."

"I see, I am sorry then." Kanade smiled. Ibuki was confused and lifted one eyebrow.

"So..?" Ibuki wanted to know the question.

"Oh, right. Would you want something to eat? I can cook for you."

"Nah I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I am a good cook. I can feed you too if you want, I am your servant after all." Kanade continued smiling.

"Yes. And no, that's gross."

"Alright then."

"I'm tired, I'll try to sleep now. Night." Ibuki said as he lied down on his side and closed his eyes.

"Good night, Ibuki." Kanade said.

After some minutes, Ibuki noticed something touching his back.

"Kanade?"

"Yes?"

"Are you lying next to me?"

"Yes."

"Okay. _Why_ are you lying next to me?"

"I thought it would be safer like this and if we cuddle we would warm up each other."

"I see. But it's too close."

"Excuse me then." Kanade said and moved away a bit. Ibuki was able to fall asleep soon.

Ibuki couldn't remember the last time he had woken up so fast, but seeing Kanade grinning only millimetres in front of his face made him jump in fear and scream out.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Ibuki screamed while still being in shock.

"I wanted to observe your sleeping face, Ibuki."

"Why the fuck would you do that?! You're creeping me out!"

"I just want us to become closer." Kanade stood up and approached Ibuki.

"If you take one more step, I swear I'll shoot you here and now."

"Too soon?" Kanade asked.

"Too soon and too close! You creep! Ah!" Ibuki turned around and wanted to walk away.

"Ibuki, wait for me."

"Don't follow me!"

"But, your sniper rifle." Kanade pointed at the gun next to the extinct fire.

"Ah! How did I deserve this pain?! Carry my sniper, we'll get going!" Ibuki said and started walking.

"As you wish." Kanade said and quickly packed everything, grabbed the sniper rifle and rushed to Ibuki's side. He matched his pace and grinned.

"Too. Close. Kanade." Ibuki shoved his hand into Kanade's face.

"I am sorry." Kanade said as he stepped back a bit.

"I bet you aren't."

"But I am."

"Yeah, sure."

"I…"

"Shut it!" Ibuki said and put on his headphones. Kanade couldn't help but start laughing. He thought to himself that their journey would be very entertaining and decided to never leave Ibuki's side.

* * *

At the same time, in Grand Marian, the monthly ritual of sacrificial offering was about to be held. It was a tradition and the villagers looked forward to it. It was an event, almost like a festival. But the villagers didn't know the truth behind of the ritual, only the Miko and some elders knew. The Miko didn't like her role. She was the one who had to decide which person was to be sacrificed. She was the only one blessed with 'The Gift'. But the girl hated her powers, she hated her role. She hated the elders, she hated the villagers, she hated village. The girl even hated herself for not being able to change anything.

"Miko-sama? It is time." an elder said.

"I know." she answered.

"Good."

"Guide me to 'The Lambs'."

"As you wish, Miko-sama."

Yes, the girl was on her way to choose the next sacrifice for the monthly ritual of Grand Marian. As she followed the elder, she looked skywards. It was night and the wind was blowing. The petals of the blooming trees were falling down and swirling in the wind; the girl also hated those flowers.


	6. Falling petals

Ashen World

Chapter Six – Falling petals

"Miko-sama, have you decided already?"

"Yes." the girl said and slowly approached one of the people that were standing in a row in front of her. She stopped in front of a young boy, crouched down and put her hand on the boy's shoulder. She knew she had to say something, but for a moment she hesitated, she didn't want to say it. She knew what would happen to the boy and she hated it, but she had no other choice. She took a deep breath and looked the boy in the eyes.

"You're the one. May God be with you, little Lamb." she said. The boy's eyes widened and started sparkling. He turned around and looked up to the woman standing next to him.

"Mommy, mommy! I'm the one!" he said with a smile and coughing at the same time.

"Ohh, my son! I'm so happy for you! You were chosen by Him, we should be thankful. Thank you Miko-sama, thank you very much." the mother burst out in tears and fell on her knees, tightly hugging her son.

"…I'm only conveying His words and His will, that is my duty. Elders, take the Lamb and prepare the ritual as always. I will go back to my chamber." the girl said.

"As you wish, Miko-sama." the elders accompanying her said and asked the little boy to say good bye to his mother. The Miko turned around and started walking away, supressing tears that were forming in her dark eyes.

She was the only one that knew the truth about the ritual _and_ cared about the so-called Lambs. The reason for holding the ritual was a simple one. Each month a villager from Grand Marian was chosen to be sacrificed. The Miko's duty was to choose that certain someone using her Gift from a randomly picked group, they were called 'The Lambs'. The Gift was said to be given to a girl in each generation and it was given to them by Him; He was their God. Being a sacrifice meant that one would die in order for the village to prosper for another month. The sacrifices would be revered as a saint and after their death they were to be sent to His side in paradise. Being chosen as a sacrifice was the greatest gratitude that He could show to the villagers, as it meant one could save the village from dying.

But that was only what the villagers believed. The Miko was no different from them, she only learned the truth when she was given the Gift. She was told that the sacrifices were indeed saving the village, but they were not being sent to His side. She was told that _He_ was a being called the Millennium Earl. The sacrifices were fed to Akuma so that they'd grew stronger. And by doing so, the village was saved from destruction. Grand Marian was nothing more than a feeding ground for Akuma.

After she was told the truth behind the ritual, she wanted to flee. She wanted to escape from the village. Before becoming the Miko, her entire family had been chosen as sacrifices, and she remembered how happy she had been then. Knowing the truth now made her sick, she didn't want to fulfil her duty, she didn't want to live in the village anymore. She tried running away once, but she was powerless. She was caught and afterwards punished, the elders made sure she'd never try running away again. And that's how she reluctantly became the new Miko of Grand Marian. She started hating everything and had no other choice than to supress her emotions. She ended up not seeing a point in being alive, she didn't had any reason to live; but they wouldn't even allow her to escape through death. She was being monitored all the time, never being alone. Whenever she wasn't performing her duties, she was confined into her chamber. She may have never been left alone, but she was lonely. No one wanted to understand her and she had no one she could talk to. She was doomed to live a life in eternal darkness. That was the Miko's life; that was Eve Walker's life.

* * *

Several days had passed since Kanade joined Ibuki on his journey. Some would say they were starting to get along, Ibuki wouldn't agree.

"Kanade?"

"Yes, Ibuki?"

"Is my head lying on your lap?" Ibuki asked after he opened his eyes from taking a nap and was looking up at Kanade.

"Yes." Kanade smiled.

" _Why_ , though?"

"I thought the ground might be too uncomfortable, so…"

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

"…" Kanade only closed his eyes and smiled again.

"Oh god damn it…" Ibuki sighed and stood up. He had stopped trying to understand why Kanade did the things he did. He probably got used to it already, even though he would never admit it.

"Shall we continue then?" Kanade asked as he stood up as well.

"Yeah, Grand Marian should be close by according to the map Elder Yuu gave you. There I can finally sell this thing and get some money, hopefully." Ibuki said while holding the seal Elder Yuu gave him.

"Yes, although I have never been to Grand Marian, I was told that it is a rather big village. I am sure you will find what you seek, Ibuki."

"Let's get going then." he said and they started walking again.

It was already night when they finally reached Grand Marian.

"Whoa, are those guards?" Ibuki said to Kanade when approaching what looked like the entrance of the village. Strangely enough, a big wall was surrounding the village, the only way to enter was apparently that entrance.

"Looks like it." Kanade answered.

"You! State your business." one of the men guarding the entrance pointed his spear at Ibuki.

"Whoa, calm down. We only wanna enter Grand Marian." Ibuki said as he pushed away the spear.

"On what business?" the man continued.

"Business? Uh… dunno, we're only travelling."

"Then hurry and scram."

"What?!" Ibuki was about to draw his gun, but Kanade stopped him.

"Excuse our rudeness. My name is Kanade Hibikuma, 36th Head of the Mugen Clan from Tsuru Village." Kanade said politely as he bowed down to the guards.

"Y-you're the current head of that clan? We've heard a lot about it, but... where's your proof?"

"There!" Ibuki was holding the seal in front of the man's face.

"That's the seal, alright. But why was that guy holding onto it, huh?!"

"He is my dear friend, he was holding onto it, because should something happen to me and the seal be lost, there would be no way to retrieve it." Kanade continued.

"I see, friend, huh? Good, you can pass." the guard said and opened the gates. Kanade thanked them and the two of them entered the village.

"Friends, huh?" Ibuki asked.

"I am sorry, of course I am still your loyal servant, Ibuki." Kanade grinned and made Ibuki shiver.

"Anyway, let's go with that story if someone should ask-" someone bumped into Ibuki and made him fall down on the ground.

"Miko-sama! Miko-sama!" the man who bumped into Ibuki didn't seem to feel sorry about it and continued running.

"Hey! What the fuck was that for?!" Ibuki exclaimed while standing up again.

"Are you okay, Ibuki?" Kanade asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. Bastard!" Ibuki yelled after the man, but he just continued running.

"Quick, the Miko-sama will appear!" a woman's voice said.

"We need to hurry, the Miko-sama is leaving her chamber even though it's not time for the ritual!" another voice said.

"Miko-sama? Ritual?" Kanade looked at Ibuki.

"How should I know?! Let's follow them and see for ourselves." Ibuki said and the two of them followed the man from before. After a while they saw a crowd gathering next to a small building. Ibuki randomly grabbed a woman by the shoulders and pulled her away.

"Wh-what are you doing? Let go of me!" the woman exclaimed. Kanade pulled her away from Ibuki and took her hand.

"Excuse us, but would it be possible for us to ask you some questions, milady?" Kanade kissed her on her hand.

"I, uh… I'm… o-okay?" the woman was flustered and didn't know how to react.

"What's going on here?" Ibuki went straight to the point.

"Hmph! Who do you think you are?" the woman didn't seem to want to talk to Ibuki.

"He is my master, Ibuki. I am his loyal servant, Kanade." Kanade said.

"M-master? What is your relationship? Oh my gosh, is it like _that_?" the woman blushed.

"Yes." Kanade grinned.

"No, shut your trap!" Ibuki slapped Kanade's back.

"As you wish, master." he smiled again.

"Oh. My. G…" the woman blushed.

"Oh for fuck's sake, Kanade. Get this over with already!" Ibuki said.

"Very well. Excuse me, miss? But we would like to know what exactly is happening here. We were travelling and happened to pass by Grand Marian, but we are not well versed in this village's customs and traditions, so if you could help explain it to us, we would be very grateful." Kanade smiled and looked into her eyes.

"Uh, uhm… s-sure. The Miko-sama is said to be leaving her chamber, even though it's not time for the ritual yet. That has never happened before for as long as I can remember." the woman continued by explaining the ritual to Ibuki and Kanade. They thanked her and she returned to the crowd.

"So they're waiting for that Miko to appear, huh…" Ibuki said.

"It seems so. Shall we wait and see what happens?" Kanade asked.

"Doesn't look like anyone will pay us any attention until this is over anyways." Ibuki added and approached the crowd.

"Ugh, almost can't see anything."

"Do you want to sit on my shoulders?" Kanade asked Ibuki.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you?"

"Miko-sama! Look, it's the Miko-sama!" the crowd screamed. Ibuki and Kanade turned back to the crowd.

The Miko came out of her chamber, accompanied by some elders. She stopped in front of the crowd and started talking.

"Villagers of Grand Marian, I have something to tell you all." she said.

"That little girl is the Miko?" Kanade said.

"Looks like it." Ibuki said.

"As you all are aware of it, it isn't time yet to celebrate the monthly ritual. But we will still hold one soon. The reason is that He has given me a new order. The ritual…" she stopped and seemed to be taking a deep breath, but tried her best to not let the villagers notice. Ibuki still noticed and started thinking.

"The ritual shall be held twice each month from now on. This is a symbol of His endless grace and mercy, He wants to increase the opportunities of becoming a sacrifice. This shows how much He cares for Grand Marian, and we should all be thankful and do our best to become a sacrifice. That is all. The elders will choose the next Lambs tomorrow, please cooperate and help us protect this village." she said finally and returned to her chamber. Amid the applause of the crowd Ibuki and Kanade remained silent.

"Ibuki, the girl's eyes… they were red from crying." Kanade whispered.

"Yeah, I saw. And she stopped for a second before announcing that 'great news'. I dunno about you, but something's wrong with this village. And I don't like it one bit, this is gonna be a pain." Ibuki said, he still seemed to be thinking about something.

"Ibuki?"

"I've gotta think about this, let us look for an inn to stay the night."

"Very well." Kanade said and they separated from the ecstatic crowd. They didn't know yet that they'd soon learn about the truth.

"Huh, they noticed? Not bad. This will be fun." a mysterious man standing on top of a building said; he had observed the entire scene from above and noticed how Ibuki's and Kanade's behaviour didn't match the one from the crowd. He grinned and in an instant vanished into thin air, only leaving a black butterfly behind. The butterfly beat its wings and flew towards the Miko's chamber. It entered through an open window and observed the Miko. She was sitting on a bed, crouching, with her arms around her legs and her head down. She was holding back tears.

"Why? Why did this have to happen?" she started talking to herself, the guards standing around in the room never talked back to her.

"Why twice now? As if once weren't cruel enough. And only because I can see these rotten flowers. I hate my powers." she said and started crying. She looked up and looked around the room. It was dark, there were no lights and the room only had the essential things she needed to survive, nothing less, nothing more. She looked at one of the guards and observed his flower. Every person had a white flower floating above them, it was their 'Life Flower', at least that's what Eve called them; she was the only one capable of seeing those flowers. That was her Gift.

"Only because of them I have to choose the sacrifices. I'm tired of it, I don't want anymore. Why won't you let me die already?! I've had enough of this! Enough!" she started sobbing and covered her ears as if she didn't want to hear anyone say something else. Her Gift didn't only let her see the flowers, it also let her predict something about that person's future. The white flowers would slowly turn black, one petal after the other, and black petals would start falling. As soon as the flower lost its last petal, the person's life would end. So by looking at those flowers, she could predict to some degree how much a person had left to live.

"You don't need me anyways! As long as you choose children as Lambs, then… then anyone could do this, why me?! Why me?!" she continued crying. The reason they had her do that hated duty was because she had to choose the sacrifice with the whitest flower. The whiter a flower was, the longer the person had left to live and the more energy it would give to the Akuma it was fed to. Consequently, children would be best suited as sacrifices. Whenever a child was chosen as a Lamb, her regrets were the biggest. She was responsible to end a young person's life.

"I hate it. I hate you all. I hate these flowers, I hate my power. I hate myself. Everything would've been better if I was never born." she seemed to be calming down a bit, still not able to stop crying. She knew that it wouldn't help if she cried, but she couldn't help. Those were the only times she was allowed to let her emotions run wild, were she didn't have to play the role of the almighty Miko. After a while she finally fell asleep, exhausted from all the crying.

There was one thing her Gift didn't let her do. She was able to see everyone's flower, but there was one single flower that she couldn't see. She would never know how her own flower looked like, she would never know how white or how black it was. The girl couldn't see how her own petals were falling slowly.


	7. Walker

Ashen World

Chapter Seven – Walker

"Hey, do you see those two over there?" a woman whispered.

"You mean the ones that entered a while ago and sat down at the table?" another one asked, whispering as well.

"Yes, don't they seem rather… close?"

"Really?"

"Yes! The blonde guy just wanted to feed the other one!"

"Yes, but that one pushed his hand into the blonde guy's face afterwards, you know?"

"Maybe that's a sign."

"A sign? What for?"

"I don't know, but… they checked in together. Oh my god, do you think they'll sleep in one room?"

"What?"

"What if the room has only one bed?!"

"What are you talking about?"

"But… don't you think they could… you know."

"What?"

"Maybe they're… _that_."

" _That_?"

"Yes! Look, now he smiled at the black haired one!"

"Yeah and he is pointing a gun at the blonde one now."

"Another sign?!"

"I think your fantasies are running wild again." and just like that the two women sitting on the other side of the room continued observing Kanade and Ibuki.

It didn't take long for Ibuki and Kanade to find an inn they could stay the night. And since the inn had a restaurant, they decided to eat there as well. When they finished eating they went to their room and Ibuki started thinking again.

"I'm pretty sure that there's something more to that ritual that meets the eye. I feel like the villagers are believing what they want to believe without thinking about it." Ibuki sat down on the bed.

"Yes, I think so too. But that is how villages work sometimes. Apparently, they are safe because of the ritual. Questioning that what gives them safety… why should they go to such lengths?" Kanade explained.

"But if all's only a farce? One big lie?"

"A beautiful lie is more appealing than an ugly truth." Kanade closed his eyes.

"…it pisses me off that I think you're right."

"So what will we be doing, Ibuki?"

"I'd like to ask that girl a few questions, but seems that the only way to do that would be to kidnap her."

"Kidnap, huh?"

"Well, maybe it'd be more of a rescue than a kidnapping, who knows."

"So we will save her?"

"Ugh, looks like it. What a pain."

"Very well, when shall we do it?"

"I dunno, I'll think about it. I'm tired, so I'll sleep now, night." Ibuki said while lying down on the bed and closing his eyes. Kanade slowly approached Ibuki's bed.

"If you take one step more I'll punch you." Ibuki said without even opening his eyes. He would already sense it when Kanade wanted to try something.

"I only wanted to cover you with a sheet."

"Don't."

"Very well, good night Ibuki." Kanade said and lied down on the other bed. He fell asleep quickly while Ibuki was thinking about what to do the next day for roughly an hour, finally falling asleep as well.

On the next day, Ibuki was already awake when Kanade opened his eyes, he was working out.

"Good morning, Ibuki. Already awake?" he asked him.

"Yeah, I felt like doing some work out so I started doing push-ups."

"I see."

"Anyways, since you're up I'll get ready to move. We have to look around the village today before acting tonight."

"You came up with an idea already?"

"Yes, several. I'll take a shower now." Ibuki stood up and walked towards the bathroom.

"Alright." Kanade smiled.

"If you open the door I'm gonna break one of your arms." Ibuki said as he closed the door behind of him. Kanade didn't answer and only continued smiling; he wasn't crazy enough to try and open the door after such a threat, he knew Ibuki was being serious.

After Ibuki finished, both of them went downstairs, ate breakfast and immediately started looking around the village. Ibuki told Kanade that they had to memorize every street and corner of Grand Marian. If for some reason they had to run and escape, they'd need to know where to go. They also looked for some places they could hide if necessary. Working with Ibuki always meant being prepared for the worst-case scenario as well. After walking around the village for some hours they returned to the inn to discuss the plan Ibuki had come up with. They decided to take a nap in the room so that they'd be rested for their mission later.

As soon as it started getting dark again Ibuki and Kanade left the inn and began their mission. Their goal was to infiltrate the Miko's room, ask her about the ritual, and, if necessary, rescue her.

There weren't many people on the streets, mainly because it probably was the time they'd have dinner. Ibuki had tried figuring out when the best time to act would be and came up with the idea of doing it then. They ran through some streets and stopped behind of the corner of the building next to where the Miko was. Ibuki peeked around the corner to observe the scene.

"Two guards in front of the door and I guess more around the building and inside." Ibuki said to Kanade.

"Shall I start with Plan 1 then?" Kanade asked.

"Sure, can't hurt to try. I'll wait."

"Very well." Kanade bowed down to Ibuki and started walking towards the door the guards were standing in front of. When they saw him they immediately pointed their lances at Kanade, but he continued walking, always smiling.

"Halt, state your business!" one of the guards said.

"Excuse me, but I am lost, would you be able to help me?" Kanade asked friendly. Ibuki was observing the scene from around the corner, ready to execute Plan 1A or Plan 1B.

"What do you want? Get lost!" the other guard said, raising his voice.

"See, it is the first time I came to this village and I heard of someone names the Miko. You would not be able to tell me where I could find her, gentlemen?" Kanade looked at the two. One of the guards turned his head and looked at the door, as if to confirm that nothing had passed through; signalizing Kanade that the Miko would most probably be indeed in that building.

"You have no authority to see the Miko-sama, and now begone!" the first guard said.

"Oh, really? What a shame… then, do you know where I could spend the night?" Kanade asked while scratching the back of his head with his left hand. As soon as Ibuki saw that he knew what he had to do.

"Plan 1B, got it." he said to himself and started running. He had to go around the building and somehow overbear how many guards would be standing there while Kanade would buy him time by talking to the guards in front of the door. Ibuki once again hid behind the corner and peeked around to see that there were only two guards standing behind the building.

"Easy." he picked up a stone that was lying nearby, pointed at one of the guards' heads and threw the stone. The guard fell down in an instant and the other one raised his lance.

"Who's there?!" he yelled.

"Fuck you, did you have to yell?!" Ibuki rushed towards the second guard. The guard swung around his lance but Ibuki evaded it easily and kicked him with his knee into his belly. The guard fell down and lost consciousness.

"Ha. I'm getting better at this." Ibuki said to himself.

"What was that sound?" one of the guards in front of the door asked. Kanade knew Plan 1B had failed and he had to continue with Plan 2B.

"I did not hear anythi-"

"Shut your trap!" the other guard pointed his lance at Kanade's face. Kanade froze and moved his hands upwards.

"Check it out, I'll stay with this clown." he continued while still holding the lance against Kanade's face.

"Alright." the other guard hurried behind the building.

"What happened behin-" Kanade still had to keep the guide occupied.

"I said to shut your trap!"

"…guess it's time to execute 2B." Kanade said.

"Aren't you liste-" but before the guard could say anything more, Kanade had already swung around, raising his leg and kicking the guard's head. The power behind the swing was that strong that the guard fell down on the floor and didn't move.

"Amateur." Kanade said while looking down on him. He crouched down and drew one of his swords.

"Are you scared of clowns? Clowns can be scary, and if I remember correctly you called me one before." Kanade bowed down more and approached the guards head.

"Bet you cannot imagine how badly I want to slice my sword through your body, now can you?" he started whispering.

"But I would not kill you, do not worry. I would try to make it hurt as much as possible, haha." he continued whispering and giggled. The guard wasn't moving and had lost consciousness.

"Dude you have some very serious issues." Ibuki was suddenly standing next to them.

"Oh, Ibuki. Everything done?" Kanade stood up again and started smiling again.

"You know you were creepy as fuck, right?"

"What could you possibly mean?" Kanade smiled.

"Alright, I'll try not getting on your bad side. Let's move on to 3B then." Ibuki said and they entered the building, luckily no one seemed to be in the streets so no one had witnessed the scene. They moved around on tiptoe, looking for the room the Miko would be in. Strangely enough they didn't encounter any guards inside of the building and after searching for a while they finally found the right room. They slammed the door open, Ibuki was pointing his gun into the room, but the room was almost completely empty. The only person inside was a girl sitting on a bed. When she heard the door open she looked up from her crouching position and saw Ibuki and Kanade.

"Who…" she was confused.

"You're the Miko, right?" Ibuki asked the girl as he closed the door again.

"I am, but who are you? Where are the guards? What do you want?!"

"Ibuki. Sleeping. An explanation."

"Sleeping?" the girl was confused, but she didn't seem to be hostile like the guards. Ibuki was sure that she was being held captive against her will.

"Miko-sama, would you be so kind as to explain us what is happening in Grand Marian? If we can, we would like to help you." Kanade said.

"Help? You think you can help? It's too late for help." she stood up from the bed and faced Ibuki. She was rather short compared to Ibuki. She had short, white hair in the style of an asymmetrical bob and black eyes. She was wearing a short, black kimono with a white floral design on the sleeves and white leggings.

"Could you hurry up and tell us? I don't think the guards will sleep for long." Ibuki continued.

"…I think I can tell you, it's too late anyway. Maybe they'll get rid of me for telling you. Okay." she looked Ibuki in the eyes and told them the story behind the rituals and the truth about her powers.

"As you can see, rather than a gifted person I'm cursed, I'm a devil, I shouldn't exist in the first place." she looked down on her feet.

"I've got an image of everything, okay. Kanade, start 4A." Ibuki said to Kanade.

"As you wish." Kanade bowed down and left the room to see if it was safe to leave the building.

"Let's go." Ibuki said to the Miko.

"Wh-what?" she was even more confused than before.

"Let's go, are you daft?"

"But… why?"

"Because I took the pain of coming here. I kicked three guys with my knee, it's still hurting. I won't leave until you come with us." Ibuki looked into her dark eyes.

"B-but why?! You heard the story! I killed people! I killed them over and over and… over again…" she fell down on her knees and started crying.

"Well yeah, that's true. You did wrong, but that's the past. It can't be changed. Stand up and keep on walking!"

"…but, but what I did… I-I don't deserve to live, I should just die-" but before she could end her sentence Ibuki had slapped her face.

"Would you shut the fuck up?! Fine! I'll kill your past self and bury your past self and you just be reborn! And now stand up or I'll drag you out of this room." Ibuki was yelling and stretching out his hand. The girl's tears stopped flowing and she was looking at Ibuki. She moved her head upwards and noticed Ibuki's flower for the first time. It was the biggest and purest flower she had ever seen and seeing it calmed her down and she silently grabbed Ibuki's hand.

"Ibuki, let us go now." Kanade came back.

"Alright." Ibuki said and the three of them left the building in a rush. But as soon as they were standing outside a mysterious man clad in white and surrounded by black butterflies was blocking their way.

"This is what you call safe to run?!" Ibuki yelled at Kanade.

"He was not here a moment ago." Kanade answered.

"Are you stupid?!" Ibuki turned to Kanade.

"Oh, no no. Your friend's right, I just got here." the man started talking.

"Who the fuck are you?" Ibuki turned back to the man.

"Oh, how rude of me. Let me introduce myself since you won't be alive to tell anyone about me anyway. I am The 3rd Disciple, the Noah of Pleasure, my name is Joyd." he said.

"Huh?!" Ibuki didn't understand a thing and looked at Kanade, but Kanade only shrugged.

"Well, doesn't matter. That girl, I assume you're Eve Walker?" Joyd pointed at the girl standing next to Ibuki.

"…how do you know my name?!" Eve asked.

"Dear, you're a Descendant, of course I'd know." Joyd started laughing.

"Descendant?" she asked.

"Yes, so you need to die for our cause, don't hold a grudge against us" he said and while holding out his arm he formed some kind of sphere with the butterflies and threw them at Eve. But just before she was hit Kanade had drawn his swords and cut through the sphere.

"Aww, what a kill-joy. I just want to have fun and your friend got in the way." Joyd said and started grinning.

"He's not my friend." Ibuki said.

"That's not nice." Joyd said.

"Ibuki." Kanade said.

"Yeah I know, I'll leave this to you." Ibuki said and started running away with Eve.

"Now look at that, your friend's running away." Joyd continued.

"Ibuki is not my friend, I am his servant and I shall protect him." Kanade said and prepared to attack. He knew that Ibuki would support him from afar, he trusted him.

"Is that so? Well…"

"Come." Kanade said calmly. Joyd's eyes widened and he started laughing frantically as he rushed towards Kanade.

"Let's play!"


	8. Hide and Seek

Ashen World

Chapter Eight – Hide and Seek

"Are you sure it's okay to leave him alone?" Eve asked as she followed Ibuki.

"Don't worry, he can look after himself." Ibuki replied.

"So you're just running away?"

"Are you blind or don't you see my weapon?"

"Long range, huh? Boring." Eve said.

"You little…"

At the same time, Kanade and Joyd were exchanging blows. For the most part it was Joyd throwing his odd spheres at Kanade who managed to cut them all in half.

"Is this all you have got?" Kanade asked.

"Me? By no means, dear Descendant." Joyd smiled.

"You already called her a descendant as well. What do you mean by that? Why do you call us like that?"

"Telling you would have no meaning anyway, so why should I bother?"

"How can you be so certain about it?"

"Because you're going to die soon, killed by my own hands. What a silly question, it almost makes me laugh." Joyd started laughing and stopped after a few seconds.

"You are very creepy, do you know that?"

"I am painfully aware, but thank you for noticing!" he said and formed a bigger sphere than the ones before.

"Oh, finally getting ready to fight for real?"

"Yes, and you're definitely going to regret not having run away like your dear friend. And now die!" Joyd shot the sphere with a loud scream. Kanade didn't move an inch and only smiled.

"Did fear leave you stiff? Fool!" Joyd started laughing aloud.

"Me? By no means, dear Disciple." Kanade grinned and the sphere vanished before it could hit him.

"Wh-what? Impossible, how?! You didn't even move!" Joyd was surprised.

"I told you, did I not? Ibuki was certainly not running away."

"Don't tell me…" Joyd turned around. Of course he could neither know nor see where the shot came from, but he understood that Ibuki was the one who got rid of that sphere. Ibuki had found a place from where he could cover almost the entire field on which Kanade was fighting Joyd. He had laid down, positioned his sniper gun and locked on Joyd.

"So you actually hit the target, huh?" Eve seemed surprised.

"Of course I did." Ibuki answered, not moving away from the ocular.

"Let me take a look through it too-" she was about to grab the sniper gun, but Ibuki slapped her hand away.

"No touching."

"I just wanted to-"

"I said no touching. And don't move or that guy will spot us."

"…so we'll just have to hide and wait here?"

"Got any better ideas?"

"If only I had my weapons with me…" Eve whispered to herself.

"Huh?" Ibuki asked.

"Nothing. But you know, it's pretty boring if I can't see what's going on in the distance."

"Not my problem."

"Are you always like this?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know how to put it… are you always… nonstop annoyed?"

"Blame Kanade."

"How did you meet him?"

"Could you just shut up for a moment, I'm trying to focus."

"Well I'm sorry that I can't do anything to be helpful."

"I know a thing."

"Yes?" Eve approached Ibuki.

"Shut up and let me work."

"Sheesh, I got it." she said and stopped talking. It remained silent for a while, only the sound of Ibuki's gun echoed through the air whenever he shot a bullet to help Kanade.

"So you can be silent if you want, huh?" Ibuki asked after a while. But no one answered. He moved away from the gun for a moment and noticed that Eve was nowhere to be found. He looked around but couldn't find her. "Oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me. This'll be a pain." he sighed, crouched down, and looked through the ocular too see if Kanade was still alive. Joyd was annoyed by Ibuki's intervening and slowly started to get angry.

"Tired?" Kanade asked while evading the attacks.

"Oh I'm only getting started, you brats."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. What about a game?"

"A game?"

"Yes, a game of hide and seek. I hide and you seek. Simple, right?" Joyd snapped his fingers and vanished. Kanade sharped his senses and readied himself for an attack. Suddenly he noticed something from behind and leaped forward.

"I may not be able to use my darlings anymore, but if I can get close to you it is definitely worth it." Joyd said as he formed a sphere in his hand and blew it from his hand, resulting in the sphere turning into various butterflies. Immediately after snapping his fingers he vanished once again.

"This is getting annoying." Kanade said while evading all of Joyd's attacks. Vanishing and reappearing whenever he wanted was indeed bothersome. Kanade could still evade without much of a problem, but he couldn't attack anymore. At this rate Ibuki would be of no big help either, they had to rethink their strategy, but they had no means to discuss it with each other.

"Damn it, if this continues it'll get out of hand. We need to do something." Ibuki said to himself.

"I have a plan." Eve was suddenly standing next to Ibuki.

"Whoa whoa whoa where the hell were you?" Ibuki startled after unexpectedly hearing her again.

"Me? Oh, just rushed home to get these!" she was holding a weapon in each of her hands. Ibuki had never seen that kind of weapon before.

"What… are those?" he asked.

"My katar daggers." she said proudly.

"Those look very… brutal." Ibuki inspected the daggers. The blades on each side of the katar reminded him of some sort of claws. They looked like they'd be able to tear apart everything that got in their way. He thought to himself to never get on Eve's bad side. "But how will they be helpful from this distance?"

"Oh they're not, that's why I'll get close to them."

"What? Do you want to get yourself killed already?"

"Ha, don't worry. I have a plan." Eve smiled.

"Won't you attack me any longer, Descendant?" Joyd continued attacking Kanade from various random spots.

"Oh I would love to continue, but you are not leaving any blind spots open, I fear." Kanade said while evading.

"Hahaha, die! Die! Die!" the attacks' speed increased as he appeared behind of Kanade and launched into an attack.

"Kanade, behind of you!" Eve yelled as she came running. Kanade jumped forward in the last second and avoided Joyd's attack.

"Phew, you have my thanks." he said.

"You little…" Joyd looked at Eve.

"Surprised?" Eve tilted her head to the side.

"Eve why are you here?" Kanade asked.

"Oh, Ibuki went out of ammo. So I'm the back-up."

"Back-up? But he keeps on vanishing leaving no traces behind."

"That's why I'm the back-up. Already forgot about my curse?" she smiled.

"Your curse?"

"Yup, even if he vanishes, I can still see his flower. And boy does it look withered. You're doomed, butterfly freak."

"Whatever you're talking about, I'm going to kill the both of you!" Joyd vanished again, but Eve locked on the flower and traced it with her eyes. And she noticed something.

"Kanade, left!" she said before Joyd even reappeared and Kanade swung his blade, landing a hit on Joyd who was thrown back by the sword's impact. "Kanade, listen. His power isn't vanishing and reappearing wherever he wants to. It's much simpler than that." she started explaining.

"How?!" Joyd was infuriated.

"As I said, I can still see your flower. And you don't vanish, you just become invisible. But the invisibility doesn't affect the flowers. Or rather, it'd be smarter to say it doesn't affect my curse. The curse was made so I would always be able to see the flowers, no matter the circumstances. And that'll be your downfall." she said and pointed one of her katar at him. Blinded by rage, Joyd rushed forward, intending to end it all with one final blow. He turned himself invisible one last time and just before he reached Eve's stretched out katar, she raised her other arm and pointed skywards. Only a split-second later a bullet shot through Joyd's chest, he turned visible again and fell down on the floor. Kanade was surprised, but Eve only smiled.

"Was that…?" Kanade looked at Eve.

"Yup. Aim, lock…"

"…and hit." Ibuki said after having shot down Joyd. Everything went according to Eve's plan. She had told him that she would join Kanade and make Joyd lower his guard. Ibuki's job was to not shoot any more bullets until she would raise her arm. He then was supposed to shoot right to where she was pointing to with her other hand. "Guess I'll join the two now." Ibuki said as he stood up.

"But you said he was out of ammo." Kanade sheathed his sword.

"Oh, that? I lied. To trick the enemy you gotta trick your team mates first."

"I see…"

"…haha. Hahaha…" Joyd was lying on the floor, coughing and laughing at the same time. "So this'll be my end, huh?"

"Give up. Your flower has almost no petals left. It's over." Eve said.

"Hahaha… that may be the case, but…" he coughed up blood. "If I'm going to die here, I'll at least take down the entire village with me! Akuma!" he formed one last big sphere with his hand and shot it skywards. "Cut the root! Bring down Grand Marian and kill every single person! Hahaha… Ahahahaha!" he laughed frantically before he turned into dust and was blown away by the wind. Several Akuma appeared from the sky and started attacking the village. Screams could be heard from all around.

"Shit!" Eve exclaimed. "He had an ace up his sleeve. What now?"

"We have no choice but to defeat them if we want to survive this." Kanade said with a serious expression.

"I guess you're right, then let's go!" Eve said, rushed towards an Akuma and attacked it as hard as she could. Kanade did the same and the two of them managed to defeat most of the gathered Akuma.

"Kanade, Eve, what the fuck's going on here?" Ibuki said as he shot an Akuma with his gun.

"I don't know, Joyd died but for some reason these Akuma appeared and are wreaking havoc now." Eve explained.

"We have to deal with them." Kanade added.

"Why?" Ibuki asked.

"Ibuki please."

"What? What do I care what happens to this village?"

"I will reward you appropriately, so please, will you help me save the village?" Eve said.

"Deal." Ibuki said quickly and started shooting more Akuma. Kanade sighed and the three of them continued. When the last Akuma was defeated, they put away their weapons and started looking for injured people. Shortly after, the village's elders who had been in charge of Eve appeared in front of them.

"Miko, what on earth has happened here? Are you without harm?" one of them asked.

"I'm fine, but more importantly, are there any people that are inju-"

"This must be divine punishment for misbehaving." another one said and looked at Eve.

"Wh-what?" she was confused.

"You tried to escape and leave this village behind, did you not?"

"What? No! I only wanted to-"

"There is no need to defend yourself, you will be confined again. Come." the first elder grabbed her by her arm and wanted to pull her away from Ibuki and Kanade. But at that very moment a crack appeared on the ground and a hole started opening.

"Shit, the ground's opening! Get away as fast as you can, now!" Ibuki yelled, he had already experienced that phenomenon several times. But it was already too late. One elder after the other fell down the bottomless seeming crack. And because one of them was still holding onto Eve, she was pulled down as well. 'Ah, this is it. My end.' she thought to herself, closing her eyes, accepting her fate.

"Who allowed you to fucking fall down, huuuuh?!" Ibuki shouted as he grabbed Eve's hand and prevented her from falling. Kanade was holding onto Ibuki and stabbed one of his swords in the ground. The hole seemed to have stopped growing, but Eve was still hanging above it.

"Ibuki!" Eve exclaimed.

"Get rid of that geezer clinging onto you, god damn it." Ibuki continued yelling.

"He… he won't let go." she tried her best. Ibuki took his gun and pointed it at the elder.

"Falling down or being shot, what do you prefer?" he glared at the elder which reflexively let go of Eve out of fear. "Kanade!" Ibuki yelled.

"Aaahhh!" Kanade pulled up Ibuki and Eve with all of his strength and the three collapsed on the ground. "That was… way too close…" Kanade was breathing heavily.

"No shit." Ibuki added.

"…thank you." Eve said.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. I hope you like huge holes in the ground in the middle of the village." he said.

"How did this happen?" Eve looked around.

"No idea, but it happens all the time. Wasn't my first time." Ibuki explained.

"We should go look around and see if everyone is okay." Kanade said.

"Yes, let's go." Eve said and stood up. They went around the hole and looked for people, but luckily it seemed like no one was heavily injured. They helped out wherever they could and tried to explain the situation to the villagers. After everything had calmed down again, Eve asked the villagers to assemble. She wanted to tell them the truth about Grand Marian. She told them about the rituals and what had been happening all the time. She also told them that the elders were gone and that she too would leave the village.

"And so I want you all to remember, from this day on, the Miko is no more. My name is Eve Walker, a girl from Grand Marian. I decided to accompany my two new friends on their journey and learn about the world. And I want you all to do what you believe is right. This is my last order as the Mi… no, this is a request from Eve Walker. Please, live your lives free from restrictions. I don't want you to forgive me for the sins I've committed in the past, I'm gonna live with them. Thank you for gathering and listening to me one last time. I wish you all the best from now on, from the bottom of my heart. Farewell." Eve said at last and turned around. She was about to head to her house to get everything ready, but as she started walking she heard voices from behind.

"Thank you for everything, Eve!" the villagers said. Tears formed in Eve's eyes as she started walking away from the crowd.

Ibuki and Kanade were waiting in front of her house.

"Everything's done?" Ibuki asked.

"Yes, I'll get ready now. Please wait a minute." she said as she entered the house.

"I did not think that you would let her accompany us that easily." Kanade looked at Ibuki.

"Yeah, your stupidity must have infected me."

"I like you too." Kanade smiled.

"…freaking creep." Ibuki shivered.

"I'm ready." Eve appeared through the door.

"You sure?" Ibuki asked her.

"Yes, I'm ready to leave Grand Marian behind. So let's go!" she paused for a moment. "…where are we going?"

"No clue." Ibuki put his sniper gun on his back and started walking.

"H-huh?!" she turned to Kanade.

"I'm only following him around." he smiled.

"So you're just wandering around with no actual goal?"

"Pretty much." Ibuki yawned.

"…I can't believe you two. Okay then, how about we head to Alma Mater?" Eve asked.

"What's that?" Ibuki turned around.

"I've been told it's the biggest underground dome."

"Oh, I have read of those as well. Supposedly, Akuma attacks cannot penetrate an underground dome's walls, correct?" Kanade explained.

"Exactly." Eve nodded.

"Sounds good enough for me." Ibuki said.

"Okay then, follow my lead. If you're too slow I'll leave you behind!" she said as she started walking in front of the two.

"Whatever." Ibuki followed her.

"Hehe, I did not think you would just go with it, Ibuki." Kanade stepped next to Ibuki.

"Shut up, Kanade." he answered.

"Eve, how long will we be walking?" Kanade asked.

"I don't know." she answered.

"Excuse me?"

"We'll get there when we get there."

"But-"

"Shut up, Kanade." she said.

"Oh my, this will be one entertaining journey." he smiled and started laughing as the three of them continued on their way. Soon, Grand Marian disappeared behind the horizon. Ibuki, Kanade and Eve left the village behind, not yet realizing the meaning of the hole that appeared in the middle of the village.


	9. The root of all evil

Ashen World

Chapter Nine – The root of all evil

"Wiselyyyy, let's play a game!" Reimei opened the doors to Wisely's room. He was lying on his bed, hiding under a blanket. "Wisely?" she approached him.

"What?" he mumbled.

"I wanna play!"

"Play with someone else, I have a headache."

"You always say that."

"Because it's the truth."

"You're no fun. Then at least tell me which number I'm thinking of right now."

"Road, I told you I don't want to read people's minds when I have a headache."

"And I told you, I'm Reimei now. Also I'm not a person. And you aren't either. We're far more superior than humans, we're Noah." she sat down next to him.

"Reimei please."

"Hmph!" she stood up again.

"Go ask the Earl."

"No, he's busy."

"Doing what?"

"I don't know, he didn't tell me. Where's Gamako?"

"What do you want to do with my pet?"

"You're so weird, how can you have a frog as a pet?"

"Don't say anything bad about Gamako!" Wisely jumped up from underneath the blankets, but raising his voice made his head hurt even more. "Ouch…"

"You're such a wimp."

"Shut up."

"So? Gamako?"

"Not telling you."

"Oh you're so boooring. I'll leave you alone then. Bye-bye." she said as she left Wisely's room. "Well well, who is next?" she smiled and walked down the corridor. She entered the rooms of the other Disciples one after the other, but she couldn't find anyone else. Disappointed by the fact that she had no one to play with, Reimei turned around and approached the Earl's door again. She knocked.

"Ear-" but before she could say anything the door opened on its own.

"Reimei, come in. I just finished."

"Uhm… okay." she entered and closed the door behind of her. "What were you doing, Earl?" He was sitting on an armchair and was holding something in his hands. He looked at her as if he was waiting for some kind of reaction.

"Well…?" he asked.

"What is that?"

"A scarf. I knitted it." he said happily.

"Why?"

"Wisely said he was cold the other day, so I decided to knit a scarf for him. Do you think he'll like it?"

"He's such a wimp."

"Reimei, it's not nice to say that about your brother. You have to cherish your family. You don't know when they… when they…" the Earl stopped talking and looked down. Reimei heard him sniffing.

"E-earl? What happened?"

"They got Joyd…" the Earl looked up again, tears falling down his face.

"Awww…" Reimei approached him and patted his head. "Did those evil Descendants kill him? Poor Joyd."

"Yes… Now there's only four of you left. Reimei, this makes me sad."

"It's okay, Earl. I understand." she consoled him.

"Reimei…"

"Yes Earl?"

"At least… he was able to cut down one more root. Right? He didn't die in vain, right?" he stopped crying and got up.

"Of course! And with that it's one root less. Soon we're going to achieve your goal, Earl!"

"But… will it work this time, I wonder?" his voice turned darker.

"Earl?"

"Just when I think about it… when I think about last time, all the anger from back then comes back and…. And I!" he smashed his hand on a table. Reimei startled. "Oh, I'm sorry Reimei, I didn't intend to scare you. It's just…" he calmed down again.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Did I ever tell you the story of how we managed to wipe the world of that disgusting Innocence?" he sat down on the armchair again.

"I think you didn't, Earl." she answered, but in fact he did. He had already told her many times, but Reimei knew that the Earl wasn't as strong as he looked. He was rather weak, mentally. And therefore she thought it'd be best to let him tell the story as many times as he wanted. She also knew that he could easily change his mood, just as he had done only moments before. She thought he wasn't aware of it himself, so she didn't tell him about that either. Because despite all the oddities surrounding the Earl, there was one fact that remained unchanged. Reimei feared the Earl.

"Sit down, Reimei. I will tell you about it." he said with a gentle voice.

"Alright, Earl." she sat down on the floor in front of him and was ready to listen about the story of how the Earl destroyed _the Originals._

"Long, long ago there was a disgusting substance called Innocence. That substance was used to kill my dear Akuma. The dear Akuma I created so that sad people could be with their loved ones again. But there was an organization that used Innocence to kill the Akuma one after the other. The Noah from then and me tried to stop them many times, but they wouldn't give up, no matter what we did. They were driven by their evil intentions to kill us. They said they wanted to save the world from us, but I only wanted to help them. Why didn't they understand? We devised new strategies to break more and more Innocence. The final plan was to destroy that one special Innocence. It was called the Heart. If we'd succeed in destroying the Heart, then all of the other Innocence would stop working. That way no one could stop us from helping everyone. Our goal was to save everyone on the world so that no one would have to say goodbye to their loved ones. So that people could be together forever. I didn't want anyone to bear the same destiny as I did once. But that organization kept on struggling, until that one fateful, final battle. We had finally managed to find out the location of the Heart and were about to destroy it, but the organization's final trump card, a group of four demons tried to stop us with all their might. A disgustingly happy boy with a hammer. An angry boy that had mastered the art of the sword. A brave girl that always tried to protect her friends. And worst of them all… the white-haired boy with the demon's eye…" the Earl stopped for a moment before he continued.

"Allen Walker. He was the final obstacle. Even when I killed all of his friends and loved ones in front of his eyes, he didn't stop. He continued fighting, tears in his eyes. Remembering it brings pain to my heart. Why did he fight so hard? If he'd let himself be killed sooner, I could've shown him the way to his dear friends. I only wanted to help them. But after a long fight, he lost. I defeated him and all the obstacles were gone. I broke the Heart and all of the world's Innocence turned useless. And so I continued to save everyone by turning them into Akuma. I travelled the world, but everywhere I went I found people resisting. They called me the devil, a monstrosity. They didn't understand that I was saving them. That continued for many, many years. Until one day I came across a book. A very, very interesting book. The things written in there were far too valuable, so I took the book and hid it after reading its contents. As it appeared, the Innocence was meant to 'protect' the world from harm. More specifically, to protect the world tree from harm, the final wall against the world's destruction. I didn't understand why the book described it with such ugly words, I wasn't destroying the world. I was saving it from the sadness of mortality. But through that book I learned that breaking the Heart wasn't enough. The tree had to perish as well. And for the tree to perish, I had to cut all of its roots. To achieve my final goal of saving the world, I need to get rid of the root of all evil." he stopped.

"And that is our current goal, right?" Reimei asked finally, already knowing the answer.

"Exactly, Reimei. And we have almost made it. If only those Descendants didn't appear. And what's more, they're able to kill my dear Akuma, just like the Originals. But the Innocence is no more. They shouldn't be able to kill them. But they are! But-"

"Eaaarl, do you want me to make you a tea?" Reimei stood up. Tea would always calm him down.

"Tea? Oh yes, tea! I would like some tea now! Thank you, Reimei." he smiled happily as if he had already forgotten what he had been talking about seconds ago. "I'll wait here and continue knitting."

"Of course, Earl. Well then…" Reimei said and left the Earl's room. She let out a deep sigh and started walking. "Oh dear, he always gets so worked up when he tells that story and when I bring up tea he forgets about it completely. But nonetheless, he's right. We have almost achieved our goal. But the Descendants' appearance… they're only complicating things. But I will stop them with my own hands if I have to. I don't want to see the Earl sad anymore. I won't allow anyone to stop us. Not even Ibuki." she said as she walked down the corridor.

At the same time, a door opened and a man wearing a priest's robe appeared. When he saw Reimei he approached her and bowed down.

"Good day, Reimei."

"When did you get here? I was bored before and was looking for someone to play with, Mercym." she said.

"My apologies, Reimei, but I was busy with my duties."

"Right, you've been given the task to cut the best guarded root of the remaining ones."

"Exactly, and I just came back to get something I need. I will be going again right now. I am almost at my goal, it took me a long time go get this far. I would not want this to fail now."

"Of course you wouldn't. Well I gotta make some tea for the Earl now."

"Very well. I will return to my duties then." he bowed down again.

"See you." she said and continued walking down the corridor. "Haaahhh… Mercym is busy, Joyd got killed, Wisely is useless as always, I have no idea what Lustol is up to and the Earl has his own problems." she sighed again. She stopped and looked upwards.

"I wonder when my time to shine will come. I want to meet Ibuki and his new friends and play with them, hihi. I hope they'll like me." she giggled and leaped for joy. She was looking forward to seeing Ibuki again.


End file.
